The last two decades have seen kosupure ("cosplay," or "costume play") blossoming from being a local Japanese subculture to a thriving worldwide trend — and business.
The annual market for costumes and related products is now estimated to be around ¥35 billion, says Hajime Kanda, general manager for sales at Clearstone Co., a leading costume maker.
But the company's overall business, according to the costume maker, is tending to the exponential, with sales up to ¥1 billion in 2007 from ¥630 million in 2005.